Aztec Tests Positive for Drugs : Conyers Is Out of Holiday Bowl; Substance Unnamed

Anthony Conyers, one of San Diego State’s leading receivers, became one of the latest players banned from a postseason bowl game after testing positive for drugs, team sources said Friday.

SDSU officials refused to identify the drug, and said they would keep the results confidential as a matter of policy.

The school, however, issued a statement saying that Conyers would not play in Tuesday night’s Holiday Bowl game against Iowa because of “medical reasons.”

Conyers, who returned home to Concord, Calif., Friday, was unavailable for comment.

Roland Barbay of LSU also was declared ineligible for taking an anabolic steroid, one of the 59 banned drugs by the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.

All-American linebacker Brian Bosworth and two of his Oklahoma teammates, Gary Bennett and David Shoemaker, USC lineman Jeff Bregel and Arkansas player David Dudley have been declared ineligible because of positive tests for steroids. Stanford University player John Zentner will miss Saturday’s Gator Bowl for the same reason.

All 22 SDSU starters and 14 other players chosen at random were administered drug tests by the NCAA on Dec. 9. The NCAA notifies the schools which players test positive, and it is up to the schools to decided whether to make the results public.

At the beginning of a press conference Friday afternoon Aztec Coach Denny Stolz said: “Because of the confidentiality of drug testing, I’d prefer not to have any questions directed toward the players or me on that.”

Stolz later refused to comment on how Conyers’ absence might affect the Aztecs.

Said Athletic Director Fred Miller: “Any time we view a situation as a medical problem, we treat it as a matter of confidence. Beyond that, we don’t confirm or deny anything.”

According to a team source, Miller met with the Aztec coaching staff Thursday evening to discuss Conyers’ situation. Conyers was in the locker room before practice Friday morning but was had left by the time practice began.

Conyers is SDSU’s fourth-leading receiver, having caught 27 passes for 507 yards and two touchdowns.

When SDSU defeated Colorado State, 27-26, by driving 86 yards in the final minute for the winning touchdown, Conyers caught four passes for 86 yards.

“This is really too bad because Conyers was a threat,” quarterback Todd Santos said. “As far as the passing game goes, he was a clutch player. He caught some key balls, especially in the Colorado State game. We’ll miss him a great deal.”

Conyers was a reserve the first seven games, catching 11 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns. In his first two starts against Colorado State and Wyoming, he caught 13 passes for 252 yards and one touchdown.

He replaced Kenny Moore, who had suffered a hip flexor injury. Moore, who has caught 25 passes for 345 yards and two touchdowns, will start in Conyers’ place against Iowa.

“Kenny Moore is a veteran who started out having a great season,” tight end Robert Awalt said. “When Kenny had the hip injury, Anthony came in and did well.”

SDSU players were not informed of Conyers’ status until a team meeting held after Friday’s press conference.

“I’m kind of shocked,” fullback Corey Gilmore said. “I didn’t know anything about it. This hurts. Anthony’s a big asset to the team. I think this is a big loss.”

Conyers, 23, came to SDSU from Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, Calif., where he had caught 40 passes as a sophomore in 1983. He was a redshirt at SDSU in 1984 because the Aztecs had three veteran receivers returning.

Before the 1985 season, Conyers successfully earned a B in a summer school class to retain eligibility. However, he lost a starting job he had earned in spring practice because he missed two-a-days while attending summer school.

Conyers caught one pass for six yards in 1985 under Coach Doug Scovil. He considered it a new life when SDSU hired Stolz before the 1986 season.

“I just told him he certainly had the talent to play a lot,” Stolz said in an interview last month. “I had no idea why he hadn’t been playing, and I didn’t care. As far as I was concerned, we were starting over.”

But now, Conyers’ collegiate career is over one game prematurely.

Barbay, a senior defensive end, tested positive for anabolic steroids and has been ruled ineligible to compete against Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl, Louisiana State University Coach Bill Arnsparger announced.

“Talking to Roland, it is my understanding it is something that happened last spring when he was working on (rehabilitating) his knee,” Arnsparger told the Associated Press.

Barbay said he had been treated with steroids by a physician he contacted about his knee injury, Arnsparger said as the LSU squad checked into its hotel in New Orleans to begin Sugar Bowl preparations. Barbay did not make the trip with the team.

“An appeal has been filed,” Arnsparger said. But he also said he did not know whether the appeal could be acted upon by the NCAA in time to restore Barbay’s eligibility for the New Year’s Day bowl game between fifth-ranked LSU and sixth-ranked Nebraska.